Rolling-window-screen construction



April 28, 1931. H. M. COATES v 1,802,374

ROLLING WINDOW SCREEN CONSTRUCTION Filed.'Aug. 13, 1928 3 Sheets-Shet 11 N VEN TOR.

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A TTORNEYJ Ap l 28, 1931- H. M. COATES 1,802,374

ROLLING WINDOW SCREEN CONSTRUCTION- Filed Aug. 15, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2if Z4 7 %&4a

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ATTORNEY-5 W 1 1- H. M. COATES 1,802374 ROLLING WINDOW SCREENCONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 13, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N V EN TOR xf fleerM (0475.:

ATTORNEY5 Patented Apr. 28, 1931 STATES PATENT orics HARRY Iii-I.COATES, OF.DETRDIT, LIICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS TO THE E.T. BURRGWES COMPANY, 615 PORTLAND, BLAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINEROLLING-WINDOW-SGBEEN CONSTRUCTION 7 Application filed August 13, 1928.Serial No. 299,141.

This invention relates to window screens, and particularly to windowscreens adapted to assume a rolled form when not in use. d

An object of the invention is to provide an improved means foraccurately guiding a window screenas it is being rolled upon orwithdrawn from a roller.

Another object is to engage the lateral edges of a roller type windowscreen with m runways, and to adapt the latter for a resilientfrictional engagement with said edges to hold the screen in selectivepositions against the pull of the roller spring.

A further object isto provide for regulation of the friction imposed bysuch runways upon the lateral margins of the screen, in a simple andimproved manner.

Still another object is to maintain said screen reasonably taut by itsengagement in said runways, while permitting its withdrawal from saidrunways responsive to an abnormal stress or shock.

A still further object is to maintain asub-v stantially transverserelation between the free end of a roller type screen and runways inwhich said screen is slidable, by the use of improved guide memberscarried by said free end, adjacent to said lateral margins.

It'is also an object of the invention to resiliently embrace the lateralmargins of a sliding screen in suitable runways and to mount upon thefree end portion of said screen a member or members slidable in saidrunways and adapted to spread the walls thereof and relieve theirpressure upon the screen when the latter is actuated.

An additional object is to so dispose within a suitable housing ascreen-mounting roller as to minimize the size of the housing necessaryto accommodate the rolled screen without resulting friction.

These and various other objects the invention attains by theconstruction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, whereinz' Fig. 1 is. an interior view of a window equippedwith the'herein disclosed screen.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same taken upon the line 22of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary interior elevational view,-showing the relationof a guide member carried by the screen to a runway secure-d to thewindow frame when the screen is fullylowered.

Fig. dis a fragmentary interior elevational view of a portion of thescreen, showing the relation of saidguide member and runway when thescreenis fully raised.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectionalview through one of the runways and theengaged portion of the screen taken upon the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a similar cross-sectional view taken upon the line 66 of Fig.1.

Fig. 7 is a. fragmentary vertical section taken upon the line 7-7 ofFig. 3,'showing a sealing strip carried by the lower end of the screenfor engagement with a window sill.

Fig. 8 is an end view of a housing within which the screen is adapted towind upon a. suitable roller.

In these views the reference character 1 designates 'an' ordinary windowframe, formed of wood, metal or other suitable material. lVhile F igs. land 2 disclose said frame as provided with a pair of casement windows 2,it is to be understood that the 1 their upper ends somewhat below thetop of said opening, as best appears in Fig. 1. Upon said strips aremounted the ends of a sheet metal housing 4 which extends substantiallyfully across the window. opening and has rigidly secured to its ends apair of angular sheet metal brackets 5 which are suitably fastened tothe uprights of the frame, as indicated at 5". Said brackets aresufliciently flexible to be readily bent to properly center the housingl between said uprights, thus compensating for variationsin the width ofdifferent window openings such as are due to rough carpentry.Longitudinally extending within the housing 4: is a tubular roller ,ing,the stop 18 may on 6 formed preferably of sheet metal and disposed forreasons which will presently appear, in a somewhat eccentric relation tosaid housing. As is common practice one end of said roller carries a pin7, which is journaled in one end of the housing 4, and a rod 8 whichprojects from the other extremity of said roller is formed with aterminal tongue 9 which non-rotatively engages in a suitable slot in theopposite end wall. Upon said rod and within said roller, is coiled aspring 10 which is adapted to actuate the roller, in a well-knownmanner.

To the roller 6 is attached in any suitable manner one extremity of awindow screen 11 passing through a slot 12 bet ween the bottom and frontwalls of the housing 1 and adapted to be downwardly withdrawn from saidroller.

The free end of the screen is reinforced by a pair of sheet metal strips13 and 14, clamped against opposite faces of the screen by bolt and nutconnecions 15 or the like. Between the lower portions of said strips isclamped a strip of rubber or other flexible material 16 projecting somedistance below said strips to engage the sill 17 when the screen isfully lowered, thus avoiding any gap between the sill and screen, suchas might adrnit insects. To increase the rigidity of the connectionbetween the strips 13 and 14: and the screen, it is preferred tolongitudinally corrugate said strips, as best appears in Fig. 7, thescreen being correspondingly corrugated, through its compression betweensaid strips. It is further preferred to form the inner strip 13 with anupper portion which is inwardly bent and outwardly return bentthroughout the length of said strip, as indicated at 18, forming ahandle for raising and lowering the screen. The part 18 additionallyserves as a stop to limit upward travel of the screen by Contact with a.board 19 which extends across the window opening at the top thereof andconceals the casing. Where it is not necessary to conceal the housgagesaid housing to limit raising of the screen.

Each lateral margin of the screen 11 is slidable in a runway formed by apair of sheet metal strips 21 and 22, secured by screws 23 or the liketo the inner edge of the corresponding jainb strip 3, and projectingpreferably into the window opening somewhat beyond said jamb strip. Inorder that these runways may snugly engage the screen to establish aseal against the passage of insects to retain the screen selectivelyadjusted, it is preferred to form one of said strips of arelativelylight andresilient metal as brass or bronze, sprung at itsfree edge toward the companion strip, the latter being preferably of aheavier gauge metal such as sheet steel. In the illustrated embodimentof the inven tion, the relatively light and resilient strip 21 directlyabuts the jamb strip 3, and the relatively heavy and rigid strip 22 isat the inner side of said strip 21.

It is desirable to engage the margins of the screen in said runways asto tension the screen between said margins and avoid any unsightlysagging of the screen inwardly or outwardly. It is further desirable, toper mit the screen to pull free from said runways if it is subjected tosome abnormal force which otherwise would perhaps rupture the screen.The present invention subjects the screen to the desired degree oftension by correspondingly beading or corrugating the free edge portionsof the strips 21 and 22 and the engaged margins of the screen. Theinter-engaging offsets thus formed in the screen and runway members,when properly proportioned, offer a predetermined resistance tohorizontal withdrawal of the screen from said runways.

It is highly desirable to prevent any appreciable tilting of the loweror free edge of said screen from its normal horizontal position, sincesuch lilting will tend to unduly increase friction between the screenand its runways, and may produce such a binding of the screen as willmake diflicult reestablishing of its working position. Also such tiltingis likely to disengage one or both of the lower edges of the screen fromthe runway. As a safe-guard against undue tilting of the screen at itslower edge, the strips 21 and 22 of each runway are formed withcomplementary corrugations 2 1 which to gether produce a substantiallytubular enlargement slideably receiving a guide member 25, secured tothe binding strips 13 and 14, and having a vertical extent sufiicient toresist tilting of the screen. To minimize friction between said guidemembers and the runways, it is preferred to form the main portions ofsaid members as relatively thin stems, and to provide upon the endportions of said stems heads 25* actin as slide-bear ings. The members25 are mounted upon the screen by a pair of U-shaped brackets 26 whichembrace the end portions of the strips 13, let and are rigidly securedthereto by bolts and nuts 27 or other suitable fasteningsil To preventinterference by the members 25 with final travel of the screen, as itapproaches its limiting positions, it is preferred to adapt said membersto slide vertically in the brackets 26. brackets form tubular socketswhich slidably receive the stem portions of the members 25. hen thescreen is drawn down to the sill 17, the guide members 25 are actuatedby contact with said sill to the raised positions relative to brackets26 shown in Fig. 3, and said members assume the lowered positions shownin Fig. 1 when the screen is fully raised.

To positively maintain engagement of the Thus the outer ends of saidguide members 25, 25 in the corrugations 24, it is preferred to form thestrip 22 of each runway with a return-bend 28, having an up-set edge 28adjacent to the corrugations 24 forming an abutment engageable by theheads 25 to retain the guide memhere in place. 1 I

Preferably the bottom of the housing 4 is formed at each end of the slot12 with upturned lugs 29 which restrict the screen from any materiallateral travel when being wound upon or withdrawn from its roller. Alsoit is preferred to form on the brackets 5 a pair of downturned lugs 30adjacent to the ends of the slot 12 to provide bearing faces againstwhich the edges of the screen may travel in passing through said slot.The lugs 30 exercise the further function of engaging between andspreading apart the top portions of the slrips '21 and 22 of each runwayso that the latter apply only slight friction to the upper portion ofthe screen. It is preferred to thus reduce the friction acting upon theupper portion of the screen, because there will ordinarily be nooccasion for retaining the screen in any upper position other than fullyraised. l

It is a decided advantage of the described construction that thecorrugations or crimps in the screen margins and runways 21, 22 may beinexpensively formed. by feeding them between suitable rolls and thatthe re tention'of the screen in the runways by the use of suchcorrugations has no tendency to damage the screen when through anyabnormal shock or jar it is pulled out of the runway. .a

It is a further ad-vani age of said runways that they subject the screento sufficient friction to retain the screen selectively adjusted whilenot unduly resisting sliding of the screen.

The construction is one, furthermore, that permits a quick andconvenient mounting of.

the runways in proper working relation to the screen, since the screenitself may be used to determine the working positions of the runwaysbefore the latter are secured in place. Thus in installing the screen,the housing t with the screen rolled therein is first properlypositioned in the top portion of the window opening as has beendescribed. The resilient runway strips 21' are then placed in theirapproximate positions of use against the inner edge faces of thejambboards 3,

the screen is downwardly withdrawn a short distance, and the guidemembers 25, 25a are pressed into the corrugations of said strips toproperly position the upper portions of said strips. Nails 31 are thendriven through the upper portion of said strips to maintain saidposition. The screen is then drawn down a further distance and thestrips 21 are nailed in place down to this same point. This process iscontinued until the strips 21 are secured in place throughout theirentire length. The companion strips 22 are then similarly progressivelyscrewed in place utilizing the guide members 25, 25a to determine theproper positions of said strip. T he; screws 23 which position thestrips 22, also supplement the nails 31 in positioning the strips 21.

The brackets 26 have a joint thickness considerably exceeding thethickness of the screen. 1'5 and consequently, as the latter is actuatedup 1 or down, said brackets serve to spread apart the strips 21 and 22relieving the screen margins of friction, for some distance above saidbrackets. Thus said strips gradually closer in upon the screen marginssome distance above the lower end of the screen so that the wear uponthe screen due to friction with the runways is negligible.

The eccentric mounting of the roller 6 ingg the housing 4 is highlydesirable from the viewpoint of minimizing the size of said housingwithout undue resulting friction between the housing and screen when thelatter is fully rolled, or substantiallyso. I havefound that the actionof the spring 10 upon the rolled screen and the stress exerted upon thescreen through its depending portion, jointly tend to shift it to aposition eccentric to the roller 6, as Fig. 2 illustrates. There-. 195fore the location of the axis of said roller at a point forwardly andupwardly removed from the axis of the housing 4 results in establishinga center position of the rolled screen inthe casing, andconsequentlymini-x mixes the required size of said housing.

While it will be apparent that the illustrated embodiment of myinvention here disclosed is well calculated to adequately fulfill theobjects and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that theinvention is susceptible, to variation, modification and changewithinithe spirit and scope of the subjoined claims.

The screws 23 may be tightened or loosenedto regulate the friction underwhich the screen is engaged by the runways.

. What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with asliding window screen 1 5 formed with shallow corrugationsextendingadjacent to its lateral'margins, of runways engaging opposite faces ofsaid margins and corrugated correspondingly to said margins.

2.-In a device of the character described jm the combination with asliding window screen, formed with corrugations parallel to its lateralmargins, of runways engaging said margins, eachcomprising a pair ofmembers engaging opposite faces of said margins, and-J25 corrugated inregistration with said marginal corrugations, one of said members beingsprung toward the other to impose a frictional restraint on said screen.

3. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a sliding screen formed with bends adjacent to itsmargins, of guide members resiliently engaging said margins bentcorrespondingly to said margins.

4. A runway for a sliding screen, comprising a pair of adjacent sheetmetal strips correspondingly corrugated to embrace a margm of a screen,and reversely corrugated to form a passage for a guide member carried bythe screen.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with asliding window screen, of a reinforcement extending across an end ofsaid screen, a pair of brackets carried by said screen and projectingbeyond the lateral margins of the screen, slide guides carried by saidbrackets extending beyond said brackets parallel to the lateral marginsof the screen and spaced therefrom, said guides having terminal heads atopposite sides of said brackets, and a pair of runways engaged by thelateral margins of the screen and formed with passages receiving theouter end portions of said brackets, the heads of said slide guides bemgengaged with the walls of said passages.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with asliding window screen, of a pair of brackets carried by said screen, atopposite points upon its lateral margins, a pair of slide guides carriedby said brackets and elongated beyond said brackets in spaced relationto the lateral margins of the screen, and slideable in said bracketsparallel to said margins, means carried by said slide guides limitingtheir sliding travel relative to said brackets, a pair of runwaysengaged by the lateral margins of the screen, and formed with passagesslideably receiving said slide guides, and an abutment limiting travelof the screen in one direction, encountered by said slide guides as thescreen approaches said abutment, whereby the slide guides are shiftedrex ersely to actuation of the screen.

7 In a device of the character described, the combination with a slidingwindow screen and a pair of slide guides for said screen elongated inparallelism with the lateral margins of the screen, of supports for saidslide guides carried by said screen j acent to said lateral margins,affording said guides a limited travel relative to the screen parallelto said margins, a pair of runways engaging the lateral margins of thescreen and formed with passages receiving said slide guides, and meansengageable by said slide guides for limiting travel of the screen inboth directions of its sliding, said guides being moveable in saidsupports by said limiting means, to increase the range of permissibletravel of the screen.

8. In a device of the character described, the combinaion with a slidingscreen. of a sealing member carried by an end of said screen, a pair ofslide guides elongated in the direction of sliding of said screen, apair of brackets mounting said slide guides, carried by said screen,adjacent to said sea-ling member, and respectively adjacent to lateralmargins of the screen, a pair of runways engaging the correspondingmargins of said screen and forming passages receiving said slide guides,and an abutment engageable by said sealing member in the extendedposition of the screen, said slide guides being slideable in saidbrackets through engagement of said guides with said abutment, wherebythe sealing member may closely approach said abutment.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with asliding window screen, of a bracket projecting laterally beyond an edgeof said screen, forming a slide bearing, a slide guide slideable in saidbearing in the direction of sliding of the screen, and terminally formedwith heads of a diameter exceeding that of said bearing, said headslimiting sliding of said guide in said bearing, and a runway engagingsaid screen margin formed with a passage receiving said slide guide.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination with asliding screen, of a bracket projecting laterally beyond an edge of saidscreen, a guide carried by said bracket elongated in the direction ofsliding of the screen and formed terminally with guide heads, and arunway comprising sheet metal walls extending at opposite sides of thescreen margin carrying said bracket, and forming a passage receivingsaid guide, one of said walls being return bent between said walls andforming an abutment engageable with the heads of said guide to retainthe guide in said passage.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification.

HARRY M. COATES.

